Stand back and get the biggest perspective of all...

When you feel overloaded by your life, it is really helpful to stand back and get a bigger perspective. The biggest perspective of all is remembering that this is just one lifetime in a long line (maybe hundreds) of lives you have lived over many thousands of years.

You survived all those lifetimes, and you will survive this one, too. I am feeling increasingly detached from small daily worries. Does it really matter if I buy the wrong size sheets? The most important concern is my spiritual growth, and I am doing the best I can....

Thoughts on detachment, solitude and apathy

My quit smoking work at the hospital sees me fully immersed in a bureaucratic world again after a lengthy absence. It is astonishing how quickly I have got drawn into the dysfunction, become obsessed with details. It takes a third 'D' word for me to stay calm: detachment. The job is an excellent chance to practice detachment. Details won't matter next month, next year...

The busy hospital world also sees me craving solitude. I have been blessed with many years of personal space. I spent a great deal of time alone, and have needed every minute of it for reflection, writing, meditation. Now I can see why: without regular solitude there is no divine connection. No divine connection means depression and stress. Make time often to be alone.

My NIA campaign (see previous blog) is not happening, yet. So many people have congratulated me on the newspaper column about zero child murders in New Zealand by 2012 - they have agreed with every word - but not one single person has said: 'What can I do to help?' And it is that apathy that causes bad situations to continue. Action is needed now to save children's lives.